Iter Per Astra: Volume 1 - Lost Princess
Astral 1 - Way of Life

May 10, 2820.

“Wake up sleepy head; time to rise and shine!”

“Ugh...” He groaned as he managed to get up from the bed. “What time is it?” He asked as struggled to open his eyes.

“It’s ten past thirty.”

He thought about it for a second, trying to understand what that time meant, but he was unable to think clearly as he had only just woken up.

He gave a stern look at him and said in a still sleepy voice. “Jack... please... it’s too early to be making those types of jokes.”

“Maybe to you,” Jack stated. “At what hour did you come to bed last night?” He asked. “It doesn’t look like you slept much.”

“Around four... in the morning.” He said as he stood up and stretched. “And the thing is that I still have to wake up early the next day.”

“It’s eight forty.” He stated. “That explains why you are so tired. What were you doing up so late?”

“I was doing the things that Marie couldn’t finish before she left. It was much more stuff than what I initially thought.”

“As group team leader I see why you would be the one to do all the jobs that she left behind. But why did she have to leave so suddenly?” Jack asked. “Shouldn’t she have given you an advanced notice or something?”

“She should have, but as it was a rather peculiar situation, and the admiral didn’t want everything to fall apart. But the gist of it is that one of the trainers for new cadets had to go to Vox Hyperspeed Lane to help with repairs there. Because as you probably know a terrorist blew up a ship there and the entire Lane is protected by the CRN. She volunteered to cover for him as she has plenty of experience in training new troops.”

“Well Joseph, you better finish up and head to the bridge, the Admiral is calling for you.”

“I’ll be right there. I wonder what she wants me for.”

“I already asked the section manager, but just in case you don’t see me for the rest of the day.”

“It’s not like I am going to miss you,” Joseph said.

“Harsh...” He said acting as if he had been heartbroken with his hand on his chest. “But really. I am leaving for Nautica harbor today, my sister is coming, and she wanted me to show her around, and on top of that my ship is going to leave now.”

“As a member of the Coryzen Security Bureau onboard this ship you should know what ship is coming don’t you think? The CRN schedules their transport ships how many weeks in advance?”

“Three weeks in advance sir!”

“Correct.” He answered. “So what ship are you going on?”

“The CRNS Javelin sir.”

“Correct. At ease.” Joseph said. “It seems you remember your training well. Very well, have a good time there, if you decide to go to the CRNS Vanguard museum, tell them that you are friends with me, they should give you a discount as I worked there for some time.”

“Well thank you, Joseph, gotta go, see you later.” Jack then left the room and Joseph​ walked over to the bathroom to wash up and change to go to work.

The walls were mostly dark metal gray, with a few spots of surface rust due to age, something that he took as standard in military naval ships, which is where Joseph is. On board the Coryzen Royal Navy Ship Bismarck shortened to CRNS Bismarck or only Bismarck by members of the ship and CRN command, one of the oldest battlecruisers of the Coryzen Royal Navy, the ship is aged at about a hundred years, having fought in the first galactic civil war nearly a hundred years ago, Bismarck and its sister ships set the stage for Coryzen to be considered a smaller galactic power with a similar size to the one that the Japanese kingdom currently has, and serves as a support fleet for the largest navy in the galaxy, the American Planets Navy, formally called the United States Navy.

After having changed, he headed to the bathroom, where he then looked at himself in the mirror and said to himself. “Happy birthday Joseph.” He said sadly. “I hope I get to see Father today, although he told me that he had way too many meetings today...”

Then his communicator rang.

“This is Captain Joseph Terix.” He answered. “Go ahead.”

“You were talking to yourself in the mirror again weren’t you.” The woman said on the other side.

“If it wasn’t you, I would have said so many things... How’s it going, Melody? It’s weird for you to call me.”

“Is it really weird for me to call?”

“Well, Oliver is probably monitoring what you are talking about right now, as he has told me so.”

“That bastard,” Melody said. “I will talk to him next time I see him.”

“Why are you calling me?”

“I wanted to say happy birthday, as this is the first birthday without your mother and I know she used to call you.”

“Thank you,” Joseph said a little teary-eyed. “It’s been almost a year since she passed away, huh.”

“I know it’s hard but try to keep it to yourself, you are very close to getting that promotion, and you don’t want to lose it. I know this as a fact.”

“How do you know about that? isn’t that information known only by higher-ranking people?”

“I report to your father remember, and sometimes he tells me about such things, and occasionally...”

“Occasionally what?”

“I see such information myself.”

“If Father catches you, he is going to be so furious.”

“Oh, he did,” Melody said. “But he made me promise that I would not speak of the things that should not be said.”

“Better hold on to that promise.”

“By the way, what are you planning on doing later?”

“I will probably just get a cake for myself, with father as occupied as he is I wouldn’t want to interrupt him unless you want some.”

“Just let me know where you are going to buy it and I’ll keep you company. Just let me know if you need anything.” Melody answered. “You better finish and head back to work.”

“Yeah... I should do that, talk to you later.” Joseph said as he hung up.

“Captain Terix to the bridge.” The Communication officer’s voice sounded across the ship’s internal speakers. “Captain Terix, your presence is requested at the bridge.”

“Time to head to the Bridge, Joseph.” He said to himself.

After speeding through his wake-up routine, he started walking to the bridge.

The CRNS Bismarck is one of the first ships made by the Coryzen Navy back in 2717, for being only three years shy of being a hundred years old, it was rather well maintained, although the ship had to be serviced every two or three months only for its post to be filled by similarly old ships like its sister ship the CRNS Tirpitz, both were named after their respective ships in the world-changing World War I and World War II as a way to never forget of the people who fought in those wars, no matter the side of the war they were on.

There are other ships in the CRN Navy named after all sides of the World Wars but there are also some original named ones like the CRN Navy Flagship, the CRNS North Star.

As Joseph took his usual route to the bridge, he noticed that the pathway that led to the bridge passing near the hull of the ship was closed and sealed, there was a giant sticker on the door that said: “Passageway closed due to atmosphere depressurization.” The hull of the ship had been mended so many times that air was starting to seep out into space through the tiny holes between plates.

But he wasn’t too surprised as he was the one who had reported about the situation.

“No wonder I felt different this morning, the pressure must be stable again.” He said to himself.

“Hey, Captain.” A Lieutenant called as he passed beside him. “Your presence is requested at the bridge.”

“Yeah, I’ll be right there.”

Soon after. Joseph entered the elevator that took people to the Bridge of the ship, which is like a small tower over the rest of the hull. The elevator would sometimes send a sharp sound of metal screeching against metal, as the elevator hasn’t been serviced for the past several years due to budget cuts.

When the door of the elevator opened, he walked as fast as he could while not attracting attention and headed towards the admiral who had called him at the other end of the bridge, the admiral was talking with another member of the bridge’s crew.